The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless pagers. More particularly, the present invention relates to an application of wireless pager technology as a means of collecting and disseminating pricing and bargain information.
Portable radio receivers and transceivers, such as wireless pagers, have become increasingly popular as a means of communication. Pagers are typically carried by users who wish or need to receive communications when they are away from a telephone or computer, or are unable to predict where they may be reached at a given time.
In general, the user of a pager purchases the unit and enters into a contract with a service provider. As shown in FIG. 1, when someone 12 wishes to page a particular user, they contact the user""s service provider 11, identify the user to be paged (perhaps with a personal identification number), and may give a message to the service provider 11 that is to be broadcast to the user""s pager 15.
The service provider 11 maintains a network of radio transceiver base stations 13, 14 which are spread throughout the service area covered by the service provider. The transmitting base stations 13 are distributed so that transmissions from at least one base station can be received by a pager 15 anywhere in the service area.
In a simplistic system, when the service provider 11 receives a request to page a user 15, the page is broadcast by all the base stations 13 in the system. Thus, if the pager 15 is located anywhere in the service area, it will receive the page. The pager 15 will then alert the user that a page has been received with, for example, an audible or vibratory alert signal.
In a more sophisticated system, the pager 15 may have the capability to not only receive a transmission from the service provider""s system, but also to transmit an answer back to the system. This is referred to as two-way paging.
With these advances, the usefulness of pagers as a means of communication has expanded rapidly. Service providers have encouraged this expansion by experimenting with pagers as a means to disseminate information of interest to pager users. For example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,695 to Nelson et al., incorporated herein by reference, a one-way pager system is used to relay sports or financial information to a pager user who has contracted with the service provider for that service.
However, there are many potential, undiscovered applications of pager technology which may provide pager users with, as yet unheard of, abilities to communicate. This is particularly true of the developing two-way pager systems. Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and applications of pager technology to meet the information, recreation and communication demands of pager users.
In particular, there are some types of information which are accurate and have value for only short periods of time. For example, stores and other retailers may have promotional sales during which merchandise is offered at bargain prices. For a variety of reasons, news of the sale may not be published or widely disseminated. The merchant may not have or may not care to invest the funds necessary to advertise the sale. Alternatively, advertising that is purchased may not, for whatever reason, reach those who would be interested in the sale.
Similarly, entertainment establishments such as movie theaters, clubs, sporting events, etc. may offer impromptu or poorly advertised promotions that members of the public would be interested in if made aware. For example, the price of tickets to a particular event may be unexpectedly reduced at the last minute to sell out an otherwise poorly attended event. In some cases, information regarding the promotion may only be available to people on the scene.
Accordingly, there is a need for a means to collect and disseminate such bargain pricing information. In particular, there is a need for a means to collect such information from the various and widespread points from which it is available and a means to quickly provided the information while it is still accurate and useful to those who are potentially interested.
It is an object of the present invention to meet the above identified needs and others. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel paging system and a method of using a the same to provide a means for collecting and disseminating bargain and pricing information while it is still of value to those who are interested in receiving it.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows or may be learned by those skilled in the art through reading these materials or practicing the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be achieved through the means recited in the attached claims.
To achieve the stated and other objects of the present invention, as embodied and described below, the invention may encompass a paging system including: a bargain information database; a processor for accessing the bargain information database; a transmitter for transmitting the information to a pager; and a profile database of subscriber profiles. Each of the profiles describe types of bargain information a particular subscriber wishes to receive. The processor selects information to be transmitted to the particular subscriber in accordance with the particular subscriber""s profile.
The system of the present invention may further encompass a pager having: a display; an antenna; and a controller. The bargain information transmitted by the paging system is received by the antenna and displayed on the display.
The paging system of the present invention may further comprise a receiver for receiving transmissions from the pager. The pager may further comprise an input device for inputting data to the controller. The data may be transmitted with the antenna to the receiver of the paging system.
The input device may be a virtual keyboard, and may include a transmit icon displayed on the display such that data is transmitted by the pager to the receiver in response to the selection of the icon. According to the principles of the present invention, the processor of the paging system may add data transmitted from the pager to the bargain information database.
The present invention may also encompass a method of using a paging system including the steps of: compiling a database of bargain information; accessing the bargain information database with a processor; transmitting the information to a pager with a transmitter; and compiling a profile database of subscriber profiles.
Each of the profiles may describe types of bargain information a particular subscriber wishes to receive. The method of the present invention may also include the step of selecting information to be transmitted to the particular subscriber in accordance with the particular subscriber""s interest profile.
The method of the present invention, may further include the steps of: providing a pager; displaying data on a display of the pager; and receiving transmitted information with an antenna of the pager. The step of receiving data may further comprise receiving bargain information transmitted by the paging system. The step of displaying data may further comprise displaying the bargain information.
The method of the present invention may further include the steps of: receiving transmissions from a pager with a receiver of the paging system; inputting data to a controller of the pager with an input device provided on the pager; and transmitting the data to the paging system. The step of inputting data may further comprise displaying a transmit icon. The step of transmitting data may further comprise selecting the transmit icon to transmit data entered with the input device.
The method of the present invention may further include the step of adding data transmitted from the pager to the bargain information database. Finally, the method may include the steps of determining the location of a pager with the paging system; and screening the information for information relevant to that location.